Amidst the beautiful mountain range of the Andes lies the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia, recognized by UNESCO’s World Heritage list and the cradle of one of the best tasting coffees in the world. Discover the magic behind a cup of Colombian coffee below.

The history of Colombian Coffee

According to history of coffee dates back many centuries in the northeastern side of the African continent, a place known today as Ethiopia. Apparently, a goat herder named Pastor Kaldi noticed a different and energetic behavior in his goats after consuming the red berries of a particular plant.

He went to the local monastery to share this information and to experiment with this fruit. After several trials, the monks realized what would help them to stay awake during their nightly prayers were the berries. After roasting the beans and grinding them, they managed a way to create this amazing beverage known today as coffee.

It wasn’t until 1735 when the Jesuits missionaries brought coffee seeds to Colombian territory to plant them at the community seminary in the city of Popayán. Ever since we became so passionate about growing Colombian coffee, we realized the perfect conditions we have to harvest and the process it takes to make one of the best coffees in the planet.

Colombia grows one of the best types of coffee beans, Arabica

The reasons behind a cup of the best coffee in the world

Colombia’s great weather condition and location allows it to grow coffee year-round

As we previously mentioned, Arabica is well known to have higher quality, but it’s also harder to grow. That’s because it requires the highest altitudes of the beautiful Colombian mountain-range where you find the perfect conditions, including volcanic soils, warm tropical temperature and enough rain and sunshine to harvest the best coffee cherries.

Due to the steep coffee farms located in the mountain peaks of the Coffee cultural landscape, the coffee in Colombia is hand-picked as it would be impossible for machines to operate in the territory. Also, the machine would ruin the entire branch of the plant and wouldn’t be able to differentiate red, ripe, over ripped, or green beans. Farmers and local coffee pickers are able to very carefully select beans of the highest classification.

Colombia is the third-largest coffee producing country and the top producer of mild coffee in the world.

Growing only Arabica contributes to the premium quality of Colombian Coffee

For the FNC (Federación Nacional de Cafeteros), the organization that representing the interests of Colombian coffee growers both nationally and internationally, the main goal is to export the best coffee in the world. For this reason, they oversee every bundle of Colombian coffee exported to other countries, sampling and testing to ensure the highest quality.

Depending on the soil and climate conditions of every region in Colombia, you can have a very clean cup of coffee with good acidity, and a certain sweetness. These qualities are a big bonus for different types of coffees. Most Colombian coffees have a good sweetness and other characteristics such as aromatic notes. When it is tasted and smelled, you can enjoy notes of jasmine, roses or even chocolate, profiles that are created to satisfy the international market.

The best tasting coffee comes from the different drying and fermentation methods

In recent years the international market has become more demanding of the characteristics they expect in their cup of coffee. This has led Colombia to modify the process of how coffee is created. Normally, the seeds are collected and the “benefit” is made, which involves pulping the cherry, putting it to ferment and then washing.

These types of coffees are called washed arabicas, and it is through this process that characteristics of acidity and sweetness are highlighted or established. Usually in Colombia there is a fermentation period of 14hrs, but some increase that to upwards of 30 hours. By modifying fermentation times, coffee growers obtain new flavors and aromas to produce their own versions of the best tasting coffee.

As you can see, Colombia produces the greatest coffee in the planet. The largest volume of Colombian coffee is exported to the USA, Germany, Japan, and Switzerland. Now that you know the thorough processes, we follow to give you the highest quality, celebrate International Coffee Day with us by having a fresh brewed cup of Colombian Arabica coffee.

Info from: https://www.colombia.co/en/trade-with-colombia/discover-the-reasons-why-colombian-coffee-is-considered-one-of-the-bests-in-the-world/